Day 11: Milford Track, Clinton Hut to Mintaro Hut

Our second day of the hike started out quite precariously.  You see, in the fjordland area, it rains at least 200 days out of the year.  That's a lot of rain.  Check with your local third grader to do that math for you but that's 2 out of three days you can expect rain.  Hiking in the rain sucks!  Hiking through a flooded valley sucks even more.  Even knowing what we were getting into, we still signed up for the hike knowing that we very likely would find ourselves wet and cold.  And we realized that you can't have the full Milford Track experience without at least one day of rain.  (Besides, you are surrounded by a plethora of beautiful waterfalls on all sides as you slog through the mud.)  I will have to admit that when I saw the pictures of fellow trampers sludging through waist high flood water at our first hut, I did start to have some serious reservations!

So, day 1 was sunny.  It would make sense that day two would bring the inevitable.  The weather report on the morning of day two was for rain to come in late morning.  What that meant for us was an early start to our 11 miles we needed to cover that day in an effort to hike as far as possible as dry as possible. 

We made it out of the hut around 8ish and started out at a feverish pace, hoping to avoid the impending rain storm.  Luckily, we finally remembered that we were going to miss all the lush rain forest, bush, rivers and mountain peaks if we spent our entire day trying to out run the rain.  We slowed down to a more humane pace and opened our eyes to the beauty surrounding us. 

We were finally deep into our track.  Everywhere you look offers a feast for the eyes.  There is not one tiny inch of this walk that isn't a visual explosion of beauty.  Today was our first day to finally gain some elevation, however that elevation didn't really come into play until around mile 7 or 8.  And by that time we had aching legs, sore backs and bruised feet.  Plus, the sky was looking ominous.  And when you're feeling that tired and are that ready to sit down and be done with walking for the day, all of a sudden, you don't worry about taking everything in.  We started a death march for our last hut, determined to arrive before the rain started.

We were so pleased when we made it to Mintaro Hut dry!  However, my feet refused to support anymore weight for the rest of the day when I collapsed on the front porch of the hut.  The rains did finally come in that night and didn't stop until well into day 3.  And as it rained all night, I had to get up THREE times in the middle of the night to make use of the facilities ... which was in a separate unit from our bunk house.  ARGH!!!

Day 10: Milford Track Start to Clinton Hut

Our tramp (hike) started with a one hour ferry ride across Lake Te Anau.  We were surrounded by spectacular views that gave us the first tastes of what was to come.  Unlike our lakes in the U.S., Lake Te Anau is pristine.  It's not surrounded by docks and houses or covered with motor boats pulling skiers.  Everything looks pretty much the way it did when the Islands of New Zealand were first pushed up out of the sea.

Our track is located in the fjordland on the south west side of the New Zealand's south island.  This area of the country is covered with dense, tropical forest nestled in valleys that are surrounded by sharp peaks.  These valleys and peaks were carved out of the earth by the movements of glaciers through the terrain as they melted and eventually disappeared.  Our track took us over 33.5 miles to the Milford Sound.

Day one of our hike was a short three miles to the Clinton Hut.  Now you can't just hop on the Milford Track 'cause you woke up one day feeling like you might want to hike 33.5 miles that day.  Only 80 hikers (40 guided and 40 independent) per day are allowed to start the track each day and those spots are booked up to a year in advance.  We reserved our spots as independent trampers (hikers) and thus, our accommodations were a bit rustic and we were required to bring our own food.  (Guided trampers pay around $1500 for three hot meals and hotel like conditions at each of their huts.  Our bill wasn't quite as steep.)

Now, by no means, don't think we were sleeping in tents and eating freeze dried meals for 3 nights.  The independent huts provide luxury camping by my standards.  All I had to carry in was food, clothes and sleeping bag.  Each hut has a bunk room, so I was sleeping on a padded bed.  We also had a cooking area with stoves, so no need to carry in fuel or a stove!  And here's the best part, there are BATHROOMS at each of these huts!  I had the use of toilets for all four days of our hike!!!  Can't believe it!  Even on the trail, you could expect to run across a toilet every three miles ... no peeing behind a bush followed by drip drying!  Wahoo!

As for food, we had a pretty fancy menu by camping standards.  Burritos on the first night, chicken curry on the second and tuna pasta on the third.  Yummy!  The last major thing we had to take into consideration was the water situation.  Typically, we either filter our water or boil it.  But not on the Milford Track.  This is the first time in my life that we could drink water directly from the stream.  And this place is covered with streams.  And the water is so amazingly clear.  I've never seen anything like it in my life.  The pictures will never do it justice.  We eventually got to a point where we didn't carry water.  When we got thirsty, we would just stop at the next stream crossing and fill up a bottle and take a drink.  And for those of you who have never backpacked, carrying water adds so much weight to your pack.  If you can get away with NOT carrying your water, you've been blessed.

Our hike on the first day took us over swing bridges, past more dense bush (forest) and gave us our introduction to the dreaded sand-fly.  Up until this point, we had not been formally introduced to this horrible New Zealand pest.  Brian and I did not encounter them at all on the North Island.  So what is a sand-fly, you ask?  OMG ... this little creature is best described as a flying flea with a bite that produces the same effect as a mosquito and the itching lingers for days on end!  Sand-flies congregate around moving water and swarm any living creature who is at rest.  This means that as long as you are moving, you are okay.  It was great incentive to continue hiking when your feet are worn out, your pack is too heavy and your muscles refuse to propel you one more inch forward.  We were told that a good breeze helps keep them away (mostly true) and that we would not find them at higher elevations (not so true, as we encountered them at the top of the pass).

Our hike on the first day covered mostly flat ground and followed a river.  It didn't take us much more than an hour to reach our first hut.  Once we settled in, we met a few of our fellow trampers.  It's a good idea to make nice with the people you're going to hear you snore for the next three nights.  The majority of our group was made up of German students from a university in Hamburg.  The remaining people were ourselves, a Canadian couple (Andrew and Maegan), the Belgians, the Floridians (David and Lauren), the German NOT with the students (Harold), the Kiwi sisters and Hal, another Kiwi.  (New Zealanders are called Kiwi.)

After dinner, Ross, the ranger for our hut came in for our "hut talk."  Basically, the hut talk is supposed to let you know about track conditions for the next day, emergency instructions should someone decide to burn down the hut and a brief track description.  Ross, however, was a bit long winded.  He gave a very detailed blow by blow track description, as well as a full report of ever bit of wildlife we would encounter for ever mile of our journey and eventually gave us some useful information about what we could expect in case of a fire.  After the first 15 minutes, it all sounded like Charlie Brown's teacher with the words "blue duck" interjected on occasion.  Ross sure was a character.  One really cool thing he did was tell us about where we could find glow worms on the trail.  Once he finally finished his "hut talk," we all headed out to the trail to see the glow worms.  So glad that Dave, Angela and Laurent got to see them after Brian and I had told them just how cool our glow worm cave tour was on the North Island.

After that, we all headed off to find our ear plugs and fall asleep!

Day 9 and 10: Queenstown to Te Anau, Milford Track Start

We are finally all together in Queenstown.  We celebrated the arrival of our full party (Nicole, Dave, Angela, Laurent and Brian) with a wonderful dinner at an Irish pub sure to make any vegetarian swear to never set foot in New Zealand.  Seems that venison and mutton are very common menu items and everyone in our group is determined to eat them in large quantities while here.

The day started out a bit cloudy and chilly, but warmed up quickly as the sun burned off the cloud layer.  To save money, we've been buying groceries as we go along.  This morning, as we cleaned out the fridge, the boys decided that letting the leftover beer get hot and skunky was completely unacceptable, so the alcohol intake started before 9 am.  As Brian pointed out, you can't drink all day if you don't start as soon as you get up!

We didn't have much time in Queenstown as we had to get to Te Anau to get our tickets for the Milford Track and pick up our rented backpacking items.  We managed to get in a 2 hour hike along Queenstown Hill for some gorgeous views.  Plus it was an excellent warm up for our impending four days on our feet.  And check out the picture of the mushroom!  The whole path in the woods was littered with these Alice in Wonderland mushrooms.  (No blue veins though, so they were only useful for looking at!)

The remainder of the day was spent shopping for food, packing gear and looking at the weather forecast, which seems to change hourly in this country.  It rains quite a bit in the fjord area of the country.  We were looking at pictures of hikers trudging through rain flooded trails up to their waists.  Huh ... not exactly what I would call fun, so we've got our fingers very tightly crossed that there are no epic rain events while we are on the trail.

Brian has been hunting for Three Boys IPA since he had his first delicious bottle in Ohkaune.  He finally found it here in Te Anau in the local super market.  The beer is extraordinarily expensive however, Brian was able to splurge and treat all the boys because of he still has much of his cum cash left over from yesterday!  (BTW ... we saw posters around town today with a picture of someone who looks remarkably similar to Brian searching for a semen smuggler seen in the area.)

This morning, we got the last of our gear packed.  We were all weighing packs to try to determine who has bragging rights for the heaviest pack.  Since I will be sporting a bag of wine for our first evening in a hut, I'm in the lead for the girls at 35 pounds.  Of course, Dave is now offering to carry the wine for me once he realized that his little wife was carrying more than him.  Brian has ultimately won the contest with his 40+ pack.  I think we will be working on the food he's carrying tonight as the real test will come tomorrow on our 10 mile up hill march we have ahead of us!

Today, we will take a ferry over to the beginning of our hike at 2 pm.  We've spent our morning talking to family for the last time for a few days and took a short hike on the Rainbow Reach part of the Kepler Track.  We will be out of touch until Sunday (Saturday in the US), but hopefully come back with wonderful stories to tell of how we stayed dry for our hike!  Until then!!!

Day 8: Journey from the North Island to the South Island

We started our morning saying good-bye to Susie and Alan at the Manuka Lodge.  I will definately miss it there.  Susie did my laundry for me.  You have no idea how much it means to me to have someone else do my laundry.  I almost had a tear drip from my eye.

Our journey started with a three hour drive to Rotorua.  The drive, as usual, was spectacular!  We at least had the opportunity to drive by the Tongariro Crossing since we didn't get to hike it.  I took a wonderful picture of the dreaded Mount Doom, stating that I will post the picture and label it as the place we DIDN'T get to hike.  My attempt at humour seemed to allude Brian as he chastised me for my negative attitude.  I thought I was being funny.  Apparently not.

Anyway!  We made it to Rotorua in a short time and had ample opportunity to thoroughly explore the tiny Rotorua airport.  During his time at the airport, Brian decided to start a new business venture.  He was approached by a gentleman, asking if he wanted to make $50.  Brian envisioned the latest episode of "Locked Up Abroad," and said "Sure!  What do you need?"   It seemed the man need transport of something very special to the Christchurch Airport and Brian was just the right person to fulfil this important mission. 

After checking with airport officials to ascertain exactly what kind of jail time he could expect to receive for the transport of illegal substances, Brian proudly marched on board our flight with a small cooler filled with ... horse semen!  Yep.  You read that correctly.  Brian is a horse semen transporter!  We're still laughing about it now!!!  You will be too!!

After changing planes in Christchurch (an no, we couldn't see any damage from the air), we arrived in Queenstown.  Queenstown is the tourist meca of New Zealand, which means everything is uber expensive.  The 10 minute cab ride from the airport was $40 dollars!!!!  Can you believe it!?!  Thank goodness for Brian and his semen or we might not have been able to afford the cab to the hotel!!!  I'm sure Brian's semen will continue to come in hand on many occasions during the rest of our journey!  (Yep.  I'm writing this with a strong glass of cider running through my system.)

The South Island is quite different from the North Island.  I find it rather surprising that two islands only 20 miles apart can be so vastly different.  From the little bit that I've seen of the South Island, the landscape looks very similar to Switzerland.  I'm looking forward to getting out tomorrow to thoroughly explore my surroundings to get a better feel for my new home away from home.

Tomorrow we head off to Te Anau to get ready for the Milford Track. 

Day 7: Wanganui River Tour

Well, today started off much like yesterday, windy and rainy, making double sure the Tongariro Crossing was an impossibility.  Not wanting to spend the majority of the day indoors again, Brian and I decided to take our chances on a Wanganui River tour.  We dressed in our best rain gear and headed out this morning through the countryside.  Once again, the I spent the drive with my jaw hanging open wondering if I will ever get used to the sheer beauty of my surroundings. 

Ken was our guide on the river tour and met us at the put in at Pipiriki.  We were being transported up river via jet boat.  As it's rain incessantly for several days now, the river level was quite high, washing out the vast majority of the river rapids (taking some of the excitement out of the whole thing).  But either way, we were out of the house.  We had one other couple on our tour, Alex and Alex's husband (can't remember his name, obviously), so it was nice to have the undivided attention of our tour guide and I could see the potential for our boat to be rather crowded if a full load of people had come along.

We jetted up river, surrounded by sheer cliff walls covered with lush vegetation.  At one point Ken took us up one of the tributaries feeding the river for a little side excursion.  He gave a through history of the area.  Our end destination was the "Bridge to Nowhere" which required a 40 minute hike through the brush once we reached the landing point. 

The surrounding hillside had been leased to soldiers returning from World War I who cultivated the area.  In the 1930s, the bridge was built to connect the community to the rest of the area, as the only access up until that point was via the river.  However, by the early '40s, rain and mudslides made the road so expensive to maintain, that the government abandoned the area and the inhabitants were forced to relocate.  Thus the bridge now leads to nowhere, however if you stand on the other side of the bridge, it leads to somewhere, where ever that may be.

Brian and I were quite lucky for the entire day over all, as it only misted a bit on our way to the bridge hike. In fact the sun did come out for a short period while we were doing our hike!  However, our ride back down the river was a different story.  The rain decided to come down in a more serious fashion, pelting our faces like tiny daggers.  It was a real test of our rain gear and I believe both of us weathered the storm very well.

Tomorrow, we set off for Queenstown on the south island to meet up with the rest of the people we will be traveling with for the next two weeks.  Looking forward to a relaxing evening of laundry (which Susie is doing for us) and hopefully a dip in the hot tub!

As a side note, the folks here in New Zealand as the nicest people I've ever run across.  And they set the standard when it comes to being polite.  Every time we pass through a construction zone, the sign at the end says "End Construction, Thank you."  Puts a smile on my face every time we pass through.

Day 6: Tongariro Crossing!!!

So, today we were SUPPOSED to set out to do what has been described as the best one day hike in New Zealand.  The tramp traverses a highly volcanic region of the country and is home to the ominous Mt. Doom from Lord of the Rings.  I'm just dying to tell everyone how amazing and breathtaking the hike was.  However, it was not meant to be.  It started raining torrents overnight and it is crazy windy here.  I laid in bed listening to the wind howl all night, thinking about how badly it would suck if I was blown off the top of the Tongariro Crossing.  It would completely ruin Dave's relationship with his brother Brian, as I'm sure Dave would blame him for losing his wife, regardless of the fact that I quite possibly had been surrounded by gale force winds!

Either way, we woke up to a rainstorm that would have influenced Noah to start work on his next ark.  I was rather disappointed about the thought of spending one of my precious New Zealand days cooped up inside, but then it hit me.  I can do something here, that I can't do at home.  So, I plugged in my headphones, grabbed a book and read ... for HOURS, undisturbed.  No children to attend, no phone to answer, no emails to return, no meals to prepare, no laundry to do.  Seems a rainy day in New Zealand is significantly more relaxing than any sunny day in Georgia!

Despite the rain, we did manage  to get out of the house for a late afternoon hike to a beautiful waterfall.  With all the rain we've had over the last couple of days, the stream was full and the waterfall was raging.  Although it was not what we had in mind for the day, we still managed to make the most of it.

I should take a moment to mention our hosts at the Manuka Lodge, Alan and Susie.  These two have been instrumental to our enjoyment of our unfortunate situation.  They have helped us sort out the question of whether or not we are actually going to be able to do our planned activity each day and coming up with other interesting things to do in the meanwhile (No Tongariro tomorrow either.  It's supposed to frikin' SNOW!).  The room we are staying in is spacious, modern and comfortable.  Plus they have a common area down stairs where were have been holed up for a large portion of the day.

They also pointed us to one of the BEST restaurants I have ever eaten at in my life, the Bearing Point.  In fact, Brian and I have eaten there for the past two nights, spending way too much money on exquisite and divine dinners.  I would recommend coming here just for this restaurant alone!

I should mention that I believe that Brian hit his low point on the trip yesterday while we were driving.  The song "Take My Breath Away" came on the radio.  Took me back to my high school days and memories of Top Gun.  I couldn't help but sing along.  I tried to turn the volume up high enough to drown out my voice, but to no avail.  I was so proud of Brian for putting up with close to 3/4s of the song before he violently punched the "seek" button on the radio.  What a little trooper!

Day 5: Waitomo Cave Tour

We woke up to an overcast drizzly day in NZ.  What a perfect day to spend underground!  We toured with a company called Spellbound.  Our cave tour started with a short drive through NZ country side to their glow worm cave.  Our guide explained that the entire area was dotted with glow worm caves and the farmers who own the land above lease the caves below to the various tour operators.  Our tour first took us on a short walk into the cave where our eyes adjusted to night vision and our guide told us all the details of the life cycle of the little glow worm.  It turns out these little creatures are quite vicious.  They will eat any little insect that crosses their path including their own kind!

As we traversed deeper into the cave, we happened upon a RIVER (which we expected, because it was in the brochure).  We all piled into a raft and and headed down stream.  As we all sat in the raft, gazing at the spectacular show of glow worms above, we moved slowly down stream to the sound of the water rushing over an impending drop off.  I thought this little raft ride was about the get really interesting as we neared the falls, however, it was not to be.  Our guide turned the raft around and headed us back up stream.

If we thought we saw a lot of glow worms when we had done the Arannui Cave walk the night before, we were only seeing a small version of what could be.  The glow worms may venture outside the caves, but the vast majority of these little guys prefer the damp protected interworkings of the caves.  The place was so beautiful.  Of course, glow worms don't really twinkle like stars do, but you get the same sort of feeling you get being under a clear sky at night.

After the glow worm cave, our tour took us to a second cave.  In between caves we had the opportunity to be drenched by the New Zealand rain.  It was a bit cold and definitely wet (as rain always is), but when you're on vacation rain is just plain FUN!  Our tour guide provided warm drinks as biscuits (cookies ... yummy) to get us warmed up before we went into our next cave.

The second cave was a dryer cave with very few glow worms.  This was our chance to get a good look at the limestone formations underground and see exactly how the water chemically erodes away at the rock.  There was also a place in the cave where part of the roof caved in (exciting!) and a few bones of animals gone astray to check out.

All in all the tour was great fun.  We spent the rest of the day driving to Ohakune where we were greeted by our new hosts Alan and Susie.  Their home is just beautiful and very modern, just built a few years ago.  We arrived around 4:30 so we had time for another hike and then a drive up to the top of Ruapahu (which is a ski resort in the winter time) for a good look at our surroundings.  Mind you, the day was still cloudy and over cast giving us a very surreal kind of feel to the landscape.  Our forest walk was just beautiful with a stream running through the area, HUGE ferns and trees and massive amounts of foliage.  Once we arrived at the top of Ruapahu, the landscape change drastically to volcanic rubble and very little plant growth at all.  We also experienced around 40 mph winds when we were up there that really put into perspective the potential for disaster on the Tongariro track that we have planned that we are probably not going to be able to complete because of the weather.